This oneshot was inspired by In Another Life by The Veronicas, which is also where the title comes from. I go through bouts of being obsessed with them, and this was during one of those times that I wrote this.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the title.
Clarissa Morgenstern never thought that she was going to get another chance at this.
She hadn't been ready the first time that life had thrown love at her.
She was a kid.
She was eighteen.
He had been twenty.
He had told her that he could wait.
But she hadn't wanted to do that.
That could lead to resentment.
That could lead to anger.
Even as a kid, she knew that she loved Jace Herondale too much to do that to him.
Jace had pushed that he could wait.
Told her that he knew what he wanted, knew it was her.
But she just knew that things would be messy if she told him that's what she wanted.
She hadn't said goodbye before she had left for New York, and he had gotten the picture.
It was now six years later.
And Jace was there.
He was there and he was so happy and he was looking at her like she hung the moon in the sky, surrounded by thousands of glittering stars.
They were both in such completely different places in their lives than they had been before.
They were both on much more solid ground.
When they had first met, Clary had been sixteen and her parents had just divorced. Clary wasn't upset about that, she was glad that her mother had finally broken it off with her abusive father, although she was cut up that they moved away from everything she had known to go to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. She'd been angry and a sarcastic, hormonal teenager, and maybe she'd kind of had a thing for the hot neighbour next door who was the talk to the town.
Jace had been eighteen at the time, living in a massive house all by himself. His parents had died in a car crash the year before and he had left for a year to live with his grandmother, but once he had graduated high school and legally became an adult, he moved back into the house. Clary wasn't sure what he did all day, she was pretty sure he didn't have a job, but they had weirdly ended up coming together a couple of times. Jace obviously wasn't interested in her then, he barely even talked to her, they just sat outside and watched the sun set a few times and went on runs in the industrial area of the town.
He was never happy.
It was all over his face.
It was in the way he held himself.
It was in the way his shoulders were always curved downward.
It was in the slight hunch of his back.
It was in the shadows in his eyes.
It was in the downturn of the corners of his lips.
Clary wasn't super happy, but she hadn't been through an incredibly traumatic experience like Jace had. She didn't classify the divorce of her parents as a thing that affected her deeply, just something she was relieved about. She got close to a couple of people at her new school, none of them were as great as Simon Lewis or Maia Roberts, but they were still good. She was definitely in a better position in her life than Jace.
But they became friends anyway.
They became familiar with each other.
Maybe that was why when they finally slept together—a few weeks after she turned eighteen—and the way he touched her was so completely reverent, it made her heart break.
She wasn't sure what Jace wanted.
He told her nothing, but that couldn't be right.
Or maybe he didn't want something, but there had to be something he needed.
He whispered that he loved her when he thought she was asleep, although once she heard the words, she had been wide awake and unable to sleep for the rest of the night.
She was eighteen.
She wasn't ready for this.
And when she looked at him, really looked at him, she was pretty sure he wasn't either.
Because he still didn't look content.
He still didn't look happy.
Jace had lost his parents, the people who loved him in the most in the world, and she wasn't sure what it was that he thought she could give him, but she just didn't have that in her. Not yet. She had so much that she wanted to do, and she had so much that she wanted to see and she was too young to be committed to someone.
Even if she knew deep down that she loved him back.
She was too young.
She was scared.
She had so much of her life that she needed to live.
Jace handled it well.
He didn't chase after her, and while Clary knew that was for the best, part of her wished he had. He flew out to see her a couple of times, always staying in a hotel, never overstaying his welcome, even when she wanted him to. He was there for her graduation, sitting with Simon and her mother in the crowd, and he actually smiled when she accepted her diploma and let out a squeal on stage, waving down at them.
It wasn't big, but it was a start.
She really wasn't sure where his life had been at, though, because she had always been so caught up in her own life, her studying and her social events and her new job, and whenever they were together, he always asked about her and looked as though he could listen to her forever.
She knew that he stayed in the town of Idris for a while after she had left, but Jocelyn Fray had mentioned a couple of times over the past few years that he wasn't in the house anymore. There had been a For Sale sign up for a few weeks, and it had sold very quickly, and now there was a family with three kids living there.
Jace wasn't there.
He hardly ever posted on his Facebook or Instagram either, so she really didn't know what he was doing.
She asked him once, when he came to visit, and he just said that he was spending time with his cousins. He didn't offer much information and she didn't push, because he had this different look in his eyes, and he was holding himself a little straighter, and his face was a little smoother, his eyebrows not always pulled together in a frown. So she left it, and just hoped he was happy.
She didn't think they would ever have another chance.
She didn't think that they would ever both be in the same place in their lives where they were ready for each other.
She didn't think she would get the opportunity to tell him that she loved him and he was the only man she had ever loved.
Clary worked her ass off for a year after graduating and then decided she didn't want to be tied down.
She wanted to travel and see things.
And so she did.
She was broke a lot of the time, but it was fun.
She picked up odd jobs and spent most of her time with her camera.
And then she ended up getting paid for the photos she was taking, sending them in to travel magazines and blogs.
Not amazing money, but good enough that she didn't always have to pick up extra jobs on her way.
Maia flew out to join her when she was in Spain, and then they traveled together.
They went everywhere.
There were boys and girls, a lot of exploring and learning about herself sexually, and sometimes there boysandgirls and it was fun.
She liked it.
She had fun.
Then when her and Maia were flying from Australia and back to New York to meet Simon's fiancé, Raphael Santiago, she got a message from Jace. Of course, she didn't see it until she they had touched down and she had service. It was a Facebook message, and it had a simple question.
Argentina happen to make it onto your go-to list?
Clary left New York three days later, this time by herself.
It wasn't as though she had anywhere else she needed to be.
And there wasn't anywhere else she wanted to be.
Jace was living in Argentina with his cousins, Alexander and Isabelle Lightwood.
Clary loved them.
She loved Alec's boyfriend, Magnus Bane, even more.
Jace was happy.
He was happy.
He looked so beautiful.
It took Clary a lot to get used to that.
Days.
Weeks.
Apparently a month.
Longer.
Because two months later, she was still there and still finding it hard to get used to the gorgeous way his face had completely transformed.
Jace was co-owner of a bar called Shadowhunters with his cousin, Alec. It was a popular little place, not tiny but still intimate, and practically right on the beach, and Clary adored it. She was there most nights, not always drinking, mainly just people watching, helping out even though she didn't need to, dancing with Isabelle and Magnus.
Staring at Jace.
He laughed.
He smiled without hesitation.
His eyes were glowing.
And he loved her.
God, he loved her.
He hadn't said it, but it was on his face when she looked at him.
It was there in the way he gently held her hand or trailed his fingers through her hair.
Plus, two weeks in to her time there, Alec was drunk and blurted it out when the pair of them and Isabelle were out in a club and he was clumsily asking Clary what her intentions were with his cousin.
But it was okay.
Right now, it was okay.
They were re-learning each other.
Hell, it had been years since they had really spoken.
Maybe ever, actually.
They talked a bit when they were sleeping together six years ago, but not really.
Jace hadn't been good at it.
Neither had Clary—she was a kid who didn't know what relationships were and what connections she needed to make with him.
But they were both in such different places now. Jace had a family here and he had a job that he enjoyed and he had friends and he was happy. Clary had life experience behind her, and she had a degree and she traveled and seen the world. They were both ready for something more serious and stable. They were both in a mentally better place.
Which brought them to now.
New Years.
They were at a club that was owned by one of Magnus' friends. It was also on the beach, although further along than the club than Shadowhunters. It was in an expensive part of the city, and the drinks were a ridiculous price, but they got them at a discounted price because of their connection.
Plus, Jace kept paying for Clary's, even though she insisted she could pay for her own.
And then they were dancing.
In a group.
Together.
Alone.
They were out on the beach, in the sand, the music loud but so far away.
Jace's hands were on her hips and her hands were in his hair.
Clary's whole body felt like she was on fire.
It felt like this was a whole other life than what they had before.
It felt as though they were starting over again, together.
It felt right.
"I love you," Clary was the one who whispered it first, their noses bumping, their lips tripping over each others. Jace's eyes went wide, surprised, his mouth falling open as he stopped dancing to process what she had just said. But then he was smiling—so fucking bright and beautiful—and he was leaning down to kiss her for the first time in six years.
"I love you too," he whispered back.
Let me know what you think x